More Local Arthropods

Differential Grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis).
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Arthropods, those joint-legged animals that include insects, spiders, crustaceans and millipedes, are the most diverse group of animals on earth.  With at least a million species, arthropods vastly outnumber all the other groups of animals.   A surprising number live in our area, and this blog will continue discussing some of these interesting arthropods. 

Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major).
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Greater Bee Fly looking for wasp or bee nest in the ground.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Flies (Order Diptera) include flies (of course) but also mosquitoes and midges.  Diptera have one pair of wings rather than two pairs like most insects.  The Order Diptera has more than 150,000 described species.  The Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major) is a regular visitor to our garden sipping nectar from a variety of flowers.  The Greater Bee Flies, as the name suggests, mimic Bumblebees (Bombus sp.).  This fly’s resemblance to the sting bearing Bumblebees means predators avoid it.  The Greater Bee Fly has an interesting reproductive strategy.  Greater Bee Flies parasitize solitary bees and wasps that nest in tunnels in the ground.  Female Greater Bee Flies hover over a tunnel of the host bee or wasp and deposit fertilized eggs in the soil.  The fly larvae burrow into the nest and eat the bee or wasp grubs.  The Greater Bee Fly is found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere around the world. 

Transverse-banded Drone Fly (Eristalis transversa). 
Rowan County, North Carolina.

Drone flies also mimic bees.  They have large black eyes and yellow and black stripes on their abdomens.  We found a Transverse-banded Drone Fly (Eristalis transversa) drinking nectar from a yellow flowered Coreopsis. This striking fly is found in Eastern North America.  

The fruit fly Eutreta novaeboracensis.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Another fly found in Eastern North America is Eutreta novaeboracensis.   This colorful fruit fly has a reddish-brown thorax, red eyes and white-spotted black wings.  Eutreta novaeboracensis larvae feed on the rhizomes of Goldenrods (Solidago sp.).

Golden-backed Snipe Fly (Chrysopilus thoracicus).
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

The Golden-backed Snipe Fly (Chrysopilus thoracicus) has a stunning color pattern with black eyes, head and wings.  The abdomen is black with white spots and there is a bold gold patch on the top of the thorax.  Golden-backed Snipe Flies live in forests and are found across Eastern North America.

Grasshoppers and katydids are classified in the Order Orthoptera.   This large group of insects have large hind legs for jumping and two pairs of wings in the adult stage. Orthoptera are omnivores feeding on leaves and other plant material, but some katydids are carnivorous or even cannibalistic.  The name katydid is onomatopoetic, coming from their three-note call “kay-tee-did”.    

Differential Grasshopper.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

The Differential Grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis) is up to two inches long with striking black chevrons on their large back legs.  These grasshoppers are found throughout the United States, Southern Canada and south into Mexico. Differential Grasshoppers are common in our area and can be found on plants throughout the summer. 

Greater Anglewing Katydid (Microcentrum rhombifolium). 
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

The Greater Anglewing Katydid (Microcentrum rhombifolia) is a large and green with wings that look like leaves right down to the leaf veins. These large insects can fly but if they land of leafy vegetation they blend in and disappear.  One evening while on a boat trip to see birds, a Greater Anglewing landed on the boat seat and rode with us for a while and let everyone get a good look. Greater Anglewings are found throughout the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Beetles, Order Coleoptera, are the largest group of insects with over 400,000 described species.  Like most insects, beetles have two pairs of wings.  In beetles the front wings are modified into hard protective covers called elytra and the rear pair of wings are used for flight.  

Eastern Eyed Click Beetle (Alaus oculatus). 
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

The Eastern Eyed Click Beetle (Alaus oculatus) is a large, impressive insect.  They measure nearly two inches long, are dark gray in color and the elytra are decorated with white spots. The most striking features of these Click Beetles are the large, black eye spots on the thorax.  The eye spots are thought to confuse or frighten predators. Click Beetles get their name because they can rapidly flex the joint between the thorax and the abdomen.  With a click, the beetle launches into the air and escapes. 

Snout beetle (Curculionidae) and Delta Flower Beetle (Trigonopeltastes delta)
on Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare).
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 

One day, while hiking in a field of Oxeye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) we found one flower with two beetles on it.  One was a small snout beetle or weevil (Curculionidae) the other was a Delta Flower Beetle (Trigonopeltastes delta).  The Delta Flower Beetle is native to the Southeastern United States and is classified in the Family Scarabaeidae, the scarab beetles.  This group includes dung beetles, Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica) and June Beetles, also know as June Bugs (Cotinis nitida).  The Delta Flower Beetle has light brown elytras, a black thorax with a golden triangle and a black head with yellow lines.  The black and yellow on the head and thorax resembles the color pattern of a wasp and bee so provides protection to the beetle. 

Goldenrod Soldier Beetle (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus).
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

A Goldenrod Soldier Beetle (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus) caught our attention one day sitting on a yellow flower. It had gold and black on the elytras and thorax. They are usually found on flowers, particularly yellow flowers where their color pattern provides camouflage.  Goldenrod Soldier Beetles eat nectar and pollen but will also consume aphids (Aphidae) and other plant pests.  

Eastern Leaf-footed Bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus)
on Marsh Pink (Sabatia angularis).
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 

We found an Eastern Leaf-footed Bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus) crawling over the flowers of Marsh Pink (Sabatia angularis).  This true bug (Order Hemiptera) is chestnut brown with a white stripe across the back.  They are called leaf-footed bugs because males have leaf-like extensions on their hind legs.  These leafy decorations may be involved in mating displays.    

Black-and-gold Flat Millipede (Apheloria virginiensis).
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

 Millipedes are not insects but are arthropods in the class Diplopoda.  Black-and-gold Flat Millipedes (Apheloria virginiensis) are large, up to two inches long.  They are gold and black and while the name millipede means 1000 feet this species has 30 pairs of legs in males and 31 pairs in females.  Black-and-gold Flat Millipedes are supposed to produce cyanide as a protective adaptation but despite this they are sometimes kept as pets. 

I am always impressed with diversity of size, form and color of arthropods. If you get tired of the same old mammals and birds around the neighborhood, you can get out and find an insect or spider or maybe even a millipede you have never seen before.